Kosal Path

Kosal Path is assistant professor of political science. He is a survivor of the Cambodian genocide. As a researcher for the Cambodian Genocide Program at Yale University and the Documentation Center of Cambodia from 1995 to 2000, he took part in documenting the atrocities committed by the Pol Pot regime, 1975-79. From 2009 to 2011, he taught international relations at the University of Southern California where he received an award of excellence in teaching international relations. At Brooklyn College, he received Whiting Award for teaching excellence in 2015-2016. His main teaching interests are international relations, genocide, and human rights. His research articles have appeared in various journals including Diplomacy & Statecraft, The Journal of Asian Studies, and The China Quarterly. Currently he is researching on transitional justice in post-genocide Cambodia. He is writing a book on Vietnam's relations with China and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Areas of Expertise:

Path's area of expertise includes Asian international relations and peace/conflict research. Within this field, he specializes in the role of nationalism/national identities in shaping foreign policy discourses in East and Southeast Asia. He has strong research interest in China's relations with Southeast Asia.

Path, Kosal and Ben Kiernan. "Ieng Sary's Regime: A Diary of the Khmer Rouge Foreign Ministry, 1976-79" translation. New Haven, Conn.: Yale Center for International and Area Studies. (Books and Publications: Other Article) 1998

Awards, Honors and Fellowships

"Salute to Scholars" Certificate of Recognition in honor outstanding scholarly achievements and contributions to the creation and transmittal of knowledge, December 6, 2016 (Awards and Honors) 2016

"Duality of Vietnam's Deference and Resistance to China's Rise," at Future Trend and Cooperation Prospect of China-Vietnam Relations Seminar, Guangdong Institute for International Strategies, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, People's Republic of China, December 10, 2017. This academic seminar was organized to discuss the prospect of Sino-Vietnamese cooperation and conflict beyond the South China Sea dispute. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2017

Discussion panelist (with Prof. Doug Erickson Irvine and Elena Lesley) at the screening event of "First They Killed My Father," based on a memoir by genocide survivor and human rights activist Loung Ung and co-produced by Angelina Jolie and Rithy Panh. The event was organized by documentary filmmaker Neardey Trinh and hosted by George Mason University School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, December 16, 2017. The film screening and the panel were organized to discuss the consequences of the Cambodian genocide on Cambodian survivors and raise genocide awareness beyond the Cambodian community (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2017

Reassessment of the Causes of the Third Indochina War, International Studies Associations (ISA) Annual International Conference, Hong Kong (China) (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2017

Symposium on Asia Cooperation Dialogue and the Building of an Asian Community of Shared Future, Guangdong Institute for International Strategies, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangdong (the People's Republic of China), December 7, 2017. This symposium was organized to discuss President Xi Jingping's vision of "a community of shared future" after the 19th Party Congress. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2017

"Resistance to Transitional Justice in Post-Genocide Cambodia" in Politics of Human Rights in Asia Panel at New York Conference of Asian Studies (NYCAS) at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, October 16-17 (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2015

Co-organizer of Recovery in the Aftermath of War and Genocide Symposium (Nov 6) sponsored by the Center for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Rutgers University and The Documentation Center of Cambodia. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2015

"China's Aid to North Vietnam During the Height of the Cultural Revolution, 1966-1969." 56th Annual Conference, American Association of China Studies, hosted by Elliott School of International Affairs and Sigur Center for Asian Studies. George Washington University. Washington D.C., Oct. 10-12. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2014

"The Challenges of Reintegration and Peace-building in Post-genocide Cambodia." Institute of Advanced Study in the Humanities. Essen, Germany. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011

"The Effects of Thought Reform After Genocide: A Study of Social Adaptation Among Khmer Rouge Perpetrators." Association of International Studies. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2011

Professional Leadership

Member of International Relations M.A. Program Committee, Department of Political Science, Brooklyn College, CUNY (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2018

Member of the Board of Directors, the Center for Khmer Studies (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2018

Member, International Working Group Steering Committee on Cambodia-Souteast Asia, the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, Rutgers University. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2014

Pedagogical Achievements

Director of Study Abroad Program Cambodia, a problem-based field research on transitional justice in post-genocide Cambodia for CUNY-wide undergraduate and graduate students (winter intersession). I have run this program since intersession 2014-2015. The goal is to inspire American students to do research in a foreign country and to become concerned citizens who may go on to raise genocide awareness in their own family and community. I believe genocide prevention begins with a concerned citizen who has the passion to build a community of shared concerns about the crime against humanity, war crimes, and genocide/ethnic cleansing around the globe. 2018